Kurt's American Dream
by Sara K M
Summary: In 1944, Kurt dreams of joining the American Navy when he finishes high school. How will Georg and Maria respond to his plans? EDITED AS OF 2/24/17.


Kurt's American Dream

 **Disclaimer: I don't own** _ **The Sound of Music.**_

 **For those of you waiting for more LPP, don't worry, I'm not going to wait as long as I did last time to post more. But as much as I'm enjoying writing engagement M & G, I still prefer to write married couples the best. And writing this gave me another chance to research and write more American history! (How could I pass that up?)**

 **Thanks goes out to Bloomandgrow for her ideas on Kurt's connections to Georg brother. (And for the information on Austrian food again.)**

It was so nice to have Kurt and Brigitta home for their vacation this week. Since the war had begun in America and the government had begun rationing gasoline, it had become more and more difficult for the high school children to return home on the weekends. Maria and Georg wished they lived in a town which offered high school, but since they did not, they must accept that Kurt and Brigitta could only come home during school vacations. At least Louisa was home now that she had completed high school.

Maria's heart swelled as she saw her entire family sit down to dinner that night. Well, almost all of them, she added to herself, trying not to focus on Friedrich's empty seat.

"Beans again?" complained Gretl as Maria dished out the meal.

"Now Gretl, you know it's much harder to buy meat because of the war than it is to buy beans," Maria reminded the ten – year – old.

"I think the beans smell wonderful, Mother. Especially with the bit of tomato mixed in." Liesl told her, smiling.

"Thank you, Liesl," Maria said gratefully as she scooped a helping onto Liesl's plate. She knew having beans several days in a row could easily become boring, so she often tried different recipes. Yesterday she'd made bean soup.

"It's yucky," Rosemary grumbled, pounding her four – year – old hands on the table that reminded Maria a lot of Georg when he was angry.

"I know we'd all rather have Talespitz, like we did at home, but since boiled beef is unavailable right now, your mother is trying to feed us what she can," Georg told all of the children firmly as the beans were dished out.

"I know," Marta sighed.

Brigitta nodded as she looked at the beans on her plate. "I know the rationing is important because of the war. We read a lot about that in school. I just wish the war would be _over_ soon, you know?" she pleaded with her parents to understand.

Maria nodded. "Of course. We all wish that. And perhaps when Hitler is finally defeated and the war is over, Friedrich will come home," she added, thinking of one of the most important reasons she prayed for an end to the war.

"But as far as dinner is concerned, I do have bread as well. _Freshly_ baked bread," Maria smiled as she opened the oven to reveal a full loaf of bread. Inhaling the smell, she couldn't wait to start eating it.

The rest of the family's faces perked up as Maria sliced a piece for each of them.

After they'd said grace and Georg wished everyone guten appetit, everyone began eating.

"Speaking of the war, the recruiters came to school last week," Kurt commented as he swallowed a bite of beans. "One for each branch of the military. Most of the guys are talking about joining when we graduate. I've been looking at the American Navy." He sounded eager to talk about it.

Everyone at the table suddenly stopped eating.

Maria looked at Kurt, horrified that another one of her sons might enter the war. She knew Kurt was almost eighteen, but sometimes she still saw him as that eleven – year – old boy had who peaked his head out at the foot of her bed. "The navy is looking for men, particularly for the pacific front," Kurt continued, ignoring the shocked looks on the rest of his family's faces. "And I know so much about the navy, between Father and Friedrich, I bet I could finish the Bluejacket Manual! ***** " he laughed at that.

Georg looked at Kurt sharply and shook his head. "Joining the navy isn't a joking matter, son. It's a big responsibility."

Kurt immediately stopped laughing. "Yes, I realize that. But we were all talking about how we wished the war would end soon. The more men who are willing to fight, the sooner the war will end. Besides, if I serve in the American military, I can become an American citizen. Just like Friedrich."

Georg shook his head again. "The American Navy doesn't need another one of my sons. Certainly not my younger, less responsible son," he announced in his Captain voice.

Kurt's face fell at that pronouncement, and he began shoving his face with food in response.

Maria loved her husband fiercely and wholeheartedly but there were times she could have cheerfully cut up his body for firewood. This was one of those times. How dare he dismiss Kurt like that? She certainly didn't want him going to war, either, but this wasn't the way to respond to an idea Kurt had been so excited about. Didn't he realize Kurt had chosen to join the navy because of his father? "Georg –" she began, shouting at him.

"I said, _no_ , Maria, and I mean it this time," he interrupted her, pounding his fist on the table as he did so.

" _How dare he?"_ Maria wondered, outraged. Briefly she wondered where their ax was, but she knew she couldn't do anything in front of the children, so she shoved some beans in her mouth instead. They had no taste, but she continued eating anyway.

The rest of the children tried to discuss other things as they finished dinner. Brigitta talked excitedly that they were reading one of her favorite Shakespeare plays in school, _King Lear._ Gretl discussed the bottle cap drive her school had just finished. Louisa told her siblings how much she'd enjoyed ice skating with some of the other local girls her age. Yet, everyone could still feel the tension in the air. It was so thick _it_ could be cut with an ax.

After they had finally finished dinner, Brigitta immediately announced it was her and Louisa's turn to wash the dishes. Liesl took Rosemary into the sitting room to read some Mother Goose rhymes. And Maria used this opportunity to take Georg upstairs (away from their ax and the fireplace) to let him have it.

As soon as she closed their bedroom door, Maria screamed at her husband, "How could you dismiss Kurt like that? Didn't you notice how excited he was about the navy? He chose that _because of you_ , Georg! He wants you to be proud of him!"

Georg screamed back, "If he _really_ wanted me to be proud of him, he'd stay here where he belongs!"

Maria shook her head violently. "He's going to graduate from high school soon. He has the whole world in front of him. How do you know he belongs here? You're being _way_ too overprotective again, trying to force him to stay when he wishes to go. You promised to listen to me when that happens," said Maria, putting her hands on her hips. Why did this man never listen to her?

"The von Trapp Family belongs together," Georg roared, pounding his fist into the air.

"That doesn't make much sense, considering you allowed Friedrich join the American Navy two years ago," Maria argued back. "I know the Americans hurt your pride when they turned down your offer to serve them, but you can't take that out on Kurt!"

"Maria, I _don't want_ to hear any more about this." Fire seemed to consume his eyes as he appeared to become angrier and angrier. Maria was sure her eyes looked the same, as she was becoming more and more furious. "Kurt is simply not responsible enough for the military, and that is that," Georg snapped. With that he left the room, slamming the door as he went.

"He's acting more responsible than you are at the moment!" Maria opened the door and screamed after him, but Georg had already gone back downstairs.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

A half an hour later, Maria was still fuming as she gave Rosemary a bath. In her frustration, she almost splashed more water than Rosemary did. _Why couldn't Georg_ listen _to the children?_ She wondered as she dunked the washcloth into the water over and over again.

"Mama, can you play with me _every time_ I take a bath?" Rosemary asked excitedly as Maria splashed another puddle of water on the bathroom floor. "This is fun!" The little girl laughed and splashed a handful of water on the bathroom wall.

Maria smiled at Rosemary's innocent delight. "We'll see." She rubbed the bar of soap onto the cloth again to wash the child's back, trying not to focus on Georg's stubbornness.

OOOOOOOOOOO

After she had put Rosemary to bed, Maria went to check on the other children. Brigitta was, of course, reading. Surprisingly, Louisa was reading as well, as she explained a friend had loaned her a book on Olympic figure skaters. In the next room, Maria heart broke as she found Kurt looking through pictures of American Navy boats.

"Look at this," Kurt commented, pointing to one of the photographs. "It's the U. S. S. Enterprise, one of the warships. And this one is the sister ship, the U. S. S. Yorktown," he continued, flipping to the next photograph. "And here's some of the carriers," he flipped to some photographs of smaller boats. "The Gambier bay, Kalinin Bay, St. Lo, and the White Plains. And the navy is still building more ships too," Kurt added flipping to some other brochures. "The recruiters had some great information." He sighed. "I just wish Father would try to understand. I know I haven't been that responsible in the past, when it comes to doing chores. And there was that time I tried to get away with not wearing my mittens or wool socks.** But I'm trying to improve, and I thought maybe joining the navy would help. Besides, Father always said I'd make a better U – boat man than him, considering how well I can hide things."

Maria nodded, remembering how many times Georg had mentioned that in the past. Had Georg forgotten about how many times he'd praised Kurt for that? She placed her hand lightly on Kurt's shoulder to comfort him and urged him to continue. "I was thinking about studying signaling or the radios in the navy. It sounds like those are jobs where hiding from the enemy is particularly important." Kurt looked right at Maria. "I remember the day Friedrich put on his uniform. The look on his face…I…" his voice trailed off as he shook his face. "It's probably too much to hope for that Father would look at me like that."

Maria gave her youngest son a gentle hug. "Your father is stubborn. Probably the most stubborn man alive. But I'll see if I can make him understand."

"Thank you, Mother," Kurt smiled gratefully.

OOOOOOOOOOOO

Later that night, after all the children had retired to bed, Maria came downstairs to do some ironing. As she did so, she noticed Georg was in the next room, darning some of the children's socks. Despite how angry she still was at him, a wave of tenderness filled her heart as she thought about how well Georg took care of his family. The socks was only one example. Liesl had learned how to knit and darn socks as well in the past two years, but Maria still loved Georg's special touch on wool stockings.***

By the time she finished the ironing, Maria was ready to talk to her husband again. Perhaps they could speak a little more rationally? "Georg, I know you worry about Kurt joining the navy," she began as she moved to sit down in the rocking chair next to him. "I do, too. But I don't understand why you had no problem with Friedrich joining the American Navy two years ago," she tried to keep her voice calm, reminding herself that shouting rarely helped when she was talking to her husband.

"Maria, do we have to go into this again?" Georg snapped. "You made me lose a stitch!" He grumbled and picked up the needle and the yarn and began again. "Friedrich was different, you know that. He's never had problems with responsible behavior the way Kurt does. And we both know how much he wished to become a doctor. Joining the navy was the perfect way for him to do that."

Maria nodded, remembering how Friedrich loved to read the medical books from the library. Even though he seemed content on the farm helping his father, she and Georg knew he dreamed of going to medical school someday. By joining the navy, he was able to receive training at much cheaper price and gain lots of different experiences treating patients. "Yes, I understand. But Georg, can't you realize Kurt has talents he can use in the navy as well? He was just discussing with me how he was thinking of becoming a radio or signals man, so he can use his gift for hiding. A gift _you_ have praised him for many years."

Georg sighed for a minute and shook his head. "Maybe, but I still don't think he's responsible enough for it. The navy isn't as glamorous as he thinks it is. It's a lot of hard work. Kurt has never really been interested in hard work." He finished repairing what looked like Louisa's sock and moved on to one that would probably fit Gretl.

Maria got up, becoming angry at him again. "That's because you're not giving him a chance!" she shouted. "He been receiving better marks in school for the past year, you know that. And he hasn't even tried to get out of chores in a couple of months. He thinks the navy might help him become more responsible. And I think he's also being quite responsible, with the way he's thinking about American citizenship. He wants you to be proud of him, Georg. Like you're proud of Friedrich."

Georg threw the sock and ball of yarn down and got up as well. "I _am_ proud of Kurt! I've always been proud of him!"

"So what is the problem?" Maria asked pointedly. "Are you sure this isn't about the fact that the American Navy turned down your assistance?" Knowing how much that had hurt her husband's pride, she had a feeling that was the root of the problem.

"Of course not! If that was true, I'd never allow Friedrich to join," he told her firmly. "I just don't want to see _my_ Kurt leaving as well."

Maria was confused for the first time since they started talking. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Georg sighed and sat back down in his chair. "My brother died in fighting in World War I. I named my Kurt after his uncle. The possibility of Kurt going to war…losing him all over again, it's bringing back all of those painful memories," he finally admitted, looking at his hands as he talked.

Maria's heart went out to him as she finally understood the problem. She knelt in front of him so she could see into his eyes, which were suspiciously wet. Then she took both of his hands in hers, feeling their strength as she talked. "Thank you for finally explaining that. I know how difficult it is for you talk about the death of your family members." She paused and kissed both of his hands. "I don't like to think about Kurt going to war, either," she admitted. "I keep thinking of that sweet eleven – year – old I met when I first came to you. But Kurt is growing up, Georg. He'll graduate high school this spring. And we can't stop him from trying to become who he wants to be. And we certainly can't support Friedrich's desire to join the navy but not Kurt's."

Georg squeezed her hands back and lifted them up so he could kiss both of them. "But what if I lose him, Maria? I've already lost so much. I don't think I could handle…" he shook his head and blinked his eyes a few times.

"Don't think like that," Maria told him firmly. "God will watch over Kurt. He knows we can't lose him. Perhaps he'll send him to the same place Friedrich is. Or he'll allow another good doctor to take care of our youngest boy."

Georg shook his head again uncertainly. "I just don't know. I don't trust God the way you do, darling."

Maria brought her head against Georg's, so close she could feel his breath against hers. "Can you trust _me_?"

"Always, darling," he replied firmly, giving her a soft kiss on the lips.

"Then can you trust me to say that I think this is very important to Kurt? And that I would never agree to let him go if I didn't believe he would return?"

Georg cradled her head with his hands. "If I must." With that, he gave her a big kiss.

 ***Bluejacket Manual. A rules book given to every member of the American Navy. Rules were (or are) listed from A – N. Rules listed O – Z were (are) blank. (Navy men have different theories why this is.)**

 ****See my story "Socks for the von Trapps" for more details.**

 *****See "Socks for the von Trapps" for details on how and why Georg knows how to knit and darn socks.**

 **Reviews are nice if you would like to do so.**


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